Croton cnidophyllus Radcl.-Sm. & Govaerts

Shrubs 1-2 m tall; indumentum of dense, flat stellate hairs; older branches glabrous. Stipules linear, caducous; petiole 1-1.5 cm; leaf blade ovate or elliptic-ovate, rarely ovate-oblong, 3-7.5 × 1.5-3.5 cm, papery, base rounded to subcordate or caudate, base of midrib with 2 abaxial long-stalked cupular glands, margins sparsely, sometimes coarsely, double-serrate, usually with stalked glands, apex caudate-acuminate or acute; basal veins 3(-5), lateral veins 2 or 3 pairs. Inflorescence terminal, 8-14 cm; bracts subulate, ca. 1.5 mm, deciduous. Male flowers: sepals oblong, stellate-hairy; petals oblong-elliptic, margins woolly; stamens 10-12. Female flowers: sepals oblong-lanceolate, stellate-tomentose, ca. 2.5 mm; ovary densely stellate-hirsute; styles 3, bifid, lobes linear. Capsules subglobose, ca. 1 cm in diam., stellate-tomentose. Fl. Jul-Sep, fr. Sep-Nov.

Guangxi, S Guizhou, S Yunnan (Menglian).

● Open forests on limestone; 400-700 m.

Croton urticifolius Y. T. Chang & Q. H. Chen, Guihaia 3: 172. 1983, not Lamarck (1786); C. cnidophyllus var. dui (Y. T. Chang) Radcliffe-Smith & Govaerts; C. guizhouensis H. S. Kiu; C. urticifolius var. dui Y. T. Chang.